New York City mayor Eric Adams is under intensified scrutiny as the FBI seized electronic devices, including at least two mobile phones and an iPad, in connection with an escalating corruption investigation into his victorious 2021 campaign, as reported by the New York Times on Friday.
This development follows an FBI raid earlier this month on the residence of Brianna Suggs, Adams’s leading campaign fundraiser, during which agents reportedly confiscated two laptop computers and three cellphones.
Adams and his campaign team had previously declined regulators’ requests to disclose the source of approximately $300,000 in donations. It remains unclear if a violation of campaign finance rules is a focal point of the inquiry.
According to the Times, FBI agents approached Adams earlier this week on the street, requesting his security detail to step away while they entered his vehicle and seized “at least two cellphones and an iPad” under the authority of a court-issued warrant.
All seized equipment was returned to Adams “within a matter of days,” with the warrant allowing the FBI to copy data from the devices.
In response, Adams, a former New York Police Department captain, issued a statement through a spokesperson, asserting his full cooperation. He stated, “As a former member of law enforcement, I expect all members of my staff to follow the law and fully cooperate with any sort of investigation, and I will continue to do that. I have nothing to hide.”
His campaign attorney, Boyd Johnson, affirmed Adams’s cooperation, emphasizing that the mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Johnson disclosed that, upon discovering improper behavior by an individual, it was immediately reported to investigators.
The FBI investigation is examining whether Adams’s 2021 campaign “conspired with the Turkish government and others to funnel money into its coffers.” The warrant sought records related to donations from Bay Atlantic University, a Washington DC college affiliated with a Turkish founder, and a school Adams reportedly visited during his tenure as Brooklyn borough president in 2015.
Vito Pitta, Adams’s campaign counsel, stated that the campaign has responded appropriately to notices from the campaign finance board regarding the donations in question.
The FBI and the US attorney’s office for the southern district of New York declined to comment on the investigation. Adams returned to New York immediately after the raid on Suggs’s home, cutting short scheduled meetings in Washington DC where he was slated to discuss immigration with White House and congressional leaders. Adams cited compassion for Suggs, a 25-year-old former intern promoted to be his chief fundraiser, as the reason for his prompt return, saying, “Although I am mayor, I have not stopped being a man and a human.”
